1. Field of the Invention
This present invention relates to measuring the characteristic parameters of the equipment traversed by a data flow within a data network, and a telecommunication network in particular. It applies particularly well to measurement of quality-of-service parameters rendered in respect of the data flow passing through this telecommunication network, but could also apply to other characteristics of the equipment such as loading, temperature, the state of queues, and so on, located in the path of these data flows.
2. Description of the Related Art
In fact it is important to have measurements of certain parameters in order to verify the correct operation of one's network, and in particular to ascertain if the quality of service requested by customers is actually being provided.
In order to achieve this, there are various known devices in the current state of the art.
For example, the Ipanema company markets measuring probes which can be placed at the input of the telecommunication network, as indicated in FIG. 1, in which probes S1 and S2 are connected to the telecommunication network (N). When data flows pass through probes S1 and S2, these measure some parameters and supply these parameters to a measuring device (M).
Measuring device (M) transmits information to the probes concerning the parameters they must measure. It can thus configure the data flows on which the measurements must be performed, as well as the periodicity of the measurements, etc.
However, such a device suffers from a major problem whenever the telecommunication network consists of several domains, each domain capable of being administered by a different telecommunication operator. The probes can be installed only at the extremities of the domain administered by the telecommunication operator. As soon as we find ourselves in a real environment, meaning one which is composed of several domains, it is no longer possible to obtain end-to-end measurements, since the operator of one domain will generally have access only to the equipment in its own domain, to the exclusion of all the other domains.
Moreover, it can be useful to have a measurement not just between the extremities of the network or of the domain, but also between the telecommunication terminals themselves, or even within the different domains or within the equipment traversed by a data flow.
This is particularly desirable in the case of telephony terminals on IP (Internet Protocol). In this situation, it does not seem clear how one can ascertain how to install and/or to configure the probes at the customer end, or within the networks traversed.
Thus, in order to do this, the entity wishing to perform the measurements must discover or configure the different measuring probes put in place in the different domains of the telecommunication network. The state-of-the-art solution is silent regarding this problem.